By Alan Fairley: January 2025

‘A Mini Woodstock – Right on your Doorstep’

That was the headline that residents of the well-heeled Glasgow suburb of Bearsden woke up to as the local newspaper dropped through their letter boxes one morning in the autumn of 1970.

The article was publicising the plans for an all day music festival, featuring a number of largely unheralded local bands, to be held in the rather unusual venue of the Kilmardinny Riding Stables.

Cue outrage amongst the locals, many of whom were still in a state of shock having witnessed television footage illustrating  the scenes of unbridled debauchery and permissiveness which emanated from the original Woodstock festival in New York State the previous year.

“A music festival” gasped one matronly resident of the burgh as she clutched her pearls in despair, “I sincerely hope there will be no nude bathing!”

She needn’t have worried. The nearest the Bearsden version of Woodstock came to nudity was the appearance of that 70s phenomenon, the Go Go Dancer…in this case not Pan’s People but a group of three scantily clad, bored looking girls who gyrated to the music as the bands performed.

About 200 people turned up to the gig at the stables, thankfully keeping their clothes on, accommodated on elevated bench seating along one one side of the hall while the musicians played on the opposite side, the stage comprising a series of wooden pallets on which a wall of Marshall stacks was assembled.

Opening the show was a group called Molls Myre, whose publicity material described them as ‘Scotland’s Number One Glitterband’. Clearly their crystal ball hadn’t informed them of the negative connotations which would tarnish such a name 30 years later.
Apparently they took their rather unattractive name from the Molls Myre Burn, a culvert which runs through an equally unattractive area of Glasgow’s south side.

Second up, and with an even less appealing name, was a band who called themselves Hog Farm (presumably taking their name from a famous Hippie commune in the USA, whose members had played a part in the organisation of Woodstock).
Their singer, George Orr, seemed rather distracted at times by the gyrations of the go-go girls in front of him but, as I’ve since learned, George went on to become a master of martial arts, so in the interests of personal safety I’ll say no more.

Local interest was provided in the form of Milngavie three piece, the Natural Acoustic Band, whose talented vocalist, Krysia Kocjan, was a fellow pupil at nearby Bearsden Academy around that time. Sadly Krysia passed away in 2007.

The headliners at Woodstock 1969 were international stars Jimi Hendrix and Creedence Clearwater Revival while the Bearsden version advertised its flagship acts as the less lauded Beggars Opera and The Humblebums.

As afternoon turned into evening, the rather embarrassed promoter took to the stage to announce, to a cacophony  of groans from the crowd that the Humblebums, a folk duo comprising two relatively unknown musicians, Billy Connolly and Gerry Rafferty, hadn’t turned up…but not to worry, Beggars Opera would do an extended set.

The non appearance of the headline acts didn’t seem to do the members of the Humblebums too much harm as they both went on to have top 10 singles in the uk charts, Connolly scoring a Number One with D.I.V.O.R.C.E in 1975 while Rafferty’s iconic Baker Street hit Number Three in 1978.

Beggars Operas’s unique sound was founded on an innovative fusion of classical music and hard rock.
The musically accomplished five piece Glaswegian outfit was masterminded by keyboard maestro Alan Park while the visuals were provided by an energetic performance from vocalist Martin Griffith.

Their lively set seemed to appease the crowd in the wake of Humblebums’ non appearance and as the attendees later made their way into the Bearsden twilight, the curtain twitchers of Milngavie Road peered out anxiously for any signs of gratuitous nudity to fortify their planned complaints.
Sadly, they were left disappointed.

The festival paved the way for future gigs at the venue, most notably appearances by chart topping artists like Mungo Jerry and the Sutherland Brothers.

I seem to recall Slade playing there as well but can’t remember being at that one.

Still, as they used to say about the original Woodstock – ‘if you can remember it, you probably weren’t there.’